Melbourne will be looking to back up from last season’s win against Port Adelaide when they host St Kilda at Cranbourne this afternoon. We’ll be providing live scores from the first bounce at 2.30pm AEDT.
Like so often has been the norm over recent years, Melbourne have had to ensure another off-season where they were in the headlines for all the wrong reasons, primarily due to the AFL’s conclusion of their investigation into tanking allegations.
But coach Mark Neeld will be pleased with how his side have handled themselves on the field, grinding out a two-point win in South Australia last Sunday after two credible losses to Richmond and North Melbourne the week earlier.
St Kilda rebounded from their 50-point demise at the hands of Port Adelaide in heatwave conditions in the opening round by cruising to a 23-point win against Sydney last weekend, though it must be said the Swans are well off their best after a delayed pre-season.
Coach Scott Watters will this afternoon welcome back Nick Riewoldt, Nick Dal Santo and Lenny Hayes for the clash, but he will be without Rhys Stanley, who could miss the season opener against the Suns after hyper-extending his knee last weekend.
Both of these sides had testing seasons in 2012 under rookie coaches in Neeld (Dees) and Watters (Saints) and would be looking toward round one in three weeks’ time with a view to collecting four points from very winnable games.
Before that though they must continue to build on a strong pre-season this afternoon, and we should see a closely contested game here from 2.30pm AEDT.